Sony NEX-5N Review

This is an in-depth review of the Sony NEX-5N mirrorless camera that came out on August 24, 2011 along with the Sony NEX-7 flagship mirrorless camera and three E-mount lenses. I had a chance to test the Sony NEX-5N, along with its kit 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens while reviewing the Nikon 1 camera system. My initial intent was to only use this camera for lab tests, to see how it would fare against the new Nikon mirrorless cameras. But after just a day of pleasant shooting with the NEX-5N, I realized that I wanted to take it for a real spin and do a full review instead. In this Sony NEX-5N review, I will talk about my experience with the camera and provide some feedback on its features and capabilities, along with comparisons to Nikon 1 V1 and Olympus E-PL3 cameras.

The NEX-5N is Sony’s fourth mirrorless camera, which replaced the Sony NEX-5 that was released back in 2010. While the added letter “N” might make it sound like a slight update, the similarities between the cameras are only in external appearance – the guts of the camera, as well as some of the functionality went through major changes. From a higher resolution superb 16.1 MP sensor, to touchscreen LCD and fast 10 frames per second shooting rate, the Sony NEX-5N is a whole different animal.

The Sony NEX-5N kit, along with other mirrorless cameras used in this review were kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I personally use to buy my photography gear.

NEX-5N + E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS @ 18mm, ISO 100, 1/160, f/8.0

1) Sony NEX-5N Specifications

Main Features:

16.1 MP Exmor™ APS HD CMOS image sensor

Updated BIONZ® image processor

Full HD movie shooting 60p/24p

Object Tracking AF via Touch LCD

11 Picture Effect modes

Regular and 3D Panorama Modes

HDR Capability

Phase Detect AF for E-mount bodies w/ adapter

Extended battery life for up to 430 shots

Tiltable 3.0″ Touch LCD with 921K dots

Optional XGA OLED viewfinder with 2.395K dots

Intelligent Scene Recognition and Face Detection

“SteadyShot” Image Stabilization Technology

Electronic First Curtain shutter

Up to 10 fps continuous shooting at full 16.1 MP resolution

World’s shortest release time lag of 0.02 sec

Peaking AF display for precise manual focusing

25-point Auto Focus with wide coverage

Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) technology

Detailed technical specifications for the Sony NEX-5N are available at Sony.com.

NEX-5N + E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS @ 22mm, ISO 100, 1/400, f/9.0

2) Sony 16.1 MP Exmor Sensor

One of the most important attributes in a digital camera is its sensor – the heart of the camera that is responsible for capturing images. The Sony NEX-5N features the excellent APS-C sized 16.1 MP Exmor sensor, which in my opinion, has a great balance of resolution and noise (the same sensor is also used on the lower-end Sony NEX-C3 mirrorless camera). While the latest generation high-resolution sensors on Sony A77, A65 and NEX-7 cameras have their advantages, as I have explained in my “benefits of a high resolution sensor” article, sometimes less can be more. For the type of the camera the NEX-5N is, which is positioned as a mid-level mirrorless camera by Sony, 16.1 megapixels is more than plenty for most photographers that will be looking into buying it.

The biggest advantage of the Sony NEX-series mirrorless cameras compared to other mirrorless cameras on the market such as Micro 4/3 and Nikon 1, is the physical size of the sensor. The 23.5×15.6mm APS-C sensor is currently among the largest sensors used in mirrorless cameras, with the exception of the expensive Leica M9/M9-P rangefinder cameras that have full-frame sensors. Large sensor size means larger pixel size, which translates to better low-light (high ISO) performance and better dynamic range. Sony picked the same 1.5x crop factor APS-C sensor size that is used in their “SLT” camera line, which is bigger than Canon’s APS-C sensors with a 1.6x crop factor and about the same as Nikon’s DX sensors. Here is a chart that summarizes sensor size differences (courtesy of Wikipedia):

Another big advantage of a larger sensor is smaller depth of field, which translates to better opportunities to isolate subjects from the background – an important factor for many photo enthusiasts and pros out there. Coupled with fast prime lenses like the Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS, one could capture creative photographs with beautiful bokeh – something that is hard to achieve on small sensor cameras.

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About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is a professional photographer based out of Denver, Colorado. He is the author and founder of Photography Life, along with a number of other online resources. Read more about Nasim here.